Cold fourth hurts Cougars

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Steadier play in the middle quarters of Thursday’s Westside League opener against visiting Pilibos gave the Glendale Adventist Academy girls’ basketball team something to build upon.

First and final periods in which the Cougars managed to score just four total points, however, gave them little to fall back on.

A jumper by Michelle Eclar brought Glendale Adventist to within 13 points early in the fourth period, but it was the final bucket the Cougars would get in a 36-15 loss.

“There was a lot of improvement tonight, it’s only our third game,” said Cougars Coach Cherene Toscano, whose team opened the season with nonleague losses to Holy Family and Orangewood Academy. “I’m excited for our next game.”

Eclar led the Cougars with 10 points, including the team’s first eight of the game to take a 15-8 deficit into halftime.

She didn’t receive much help scoring-wise until the 3:10 mark of the third period when Ahra Kho tipped in a put back to bring Glendale Adventist within 22-10.

At the 1:24 mark of the third, Clarissa David converted on the front end of a one-and-one before scoring on a short jumper off an offensive rebound of a miss on the second.

Pilibos (6-1, 1-0 in league), which features about half a dozen players who reside in Glendale, was led by Marianna Azizian with 12 points and six rebounds.

Nine other players scored for the Eagles, who came up with 19 steals and forced the Cougars into over 25 turnovers on the game.

“Pilibos is a really good team,” Toscano said. “They’re very strong and they’ve always been fierce competitors, so I’m actually not too disappointed with how we did tonight.”

Katrina Guevara and Eclar each had three steals for Glendale Adventist and Kho added five rebounds for the Cougars, who next play at Orangewood in a nonleague contest at 7 p.m. on Saturday before resuming league play on Monday at Westside Christian.